Class Dismissed
by KitchenSink5
Summary: We all know that eventually ER must end. This is how I would write the series finale.


AUTHOR: Kitchen_Sink5  
EMAIL: kitchen_sink5@yahoo.com  
CATEGORY: Entire Cast   
RATING: PG  
SPOILERS: assorted Season Seven ones  
ARCHIVE: Please ask me first!  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, for christ's sake!  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story has no particular time setting, except to say that it's after season seven. I changed a few things that happened in Season Seven - Mark never had a brain tumor, and Elizabeth isn't pregnant before they get married (you'll understand when you read!). This fanfic involves every single cast member from season seven. The songs used are "Yesterday" by the Beatles, and "So Long, Farewell" from 'The Sound of Music'. Which reminds me, I'd like to thank my friend Lynn for suggesting those lyrics, as well as writing them down for me (since I haven't seen the movie since I was about five!)  
YET ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the revised edition of "Class Dismissed", one that conveys how I truly wanted to end the show. I hope you enjoy!  
SUMMARY: We all know that eventually ER must end. This is how I would write the series finale.   
  
  
  
"You have to be kidding." Robert Romano's voice said over the telephone.   
  
"I am not kidding, this is not a joke. County General will be closed." The administrator said sternly, hanging up the phone.   
  
Robert felt as if he had just been slapped across the face. Just weeks ago, County General had been threatened of being shut down. The county supervisor said that they had overspent their budget, and they were running too high on repairs and maintenance. Robert hadn't taken the threats seriously - County had been threatened of being shut down several times before. But somehow, they always decided to keep it open. Not this time.....   
  
Picking up his office phone, he dialed the number of the emergency department. After three rings, the desk clerk picked up and transferred him to Kerry Weaver. He then began the first of a dozen conversations that he was sad to make.   
  
"Kerry? It's Romano. I've got some bad news........"   
  
* * * * * *   
  
A staff meeting had been called. The ER staff sat around in the lounge, waiting for Dr. Weaver to show up. All of the doctors and nurses assumed that the meeting wouldn't be about anything drastic. No one had heard anything about the hospital possibly being shut down, so nobody suspected the bombshell that was about to be dropped on them.   
  
"I'm sure Chief just wants to yell at me in front of everybody again," Dave speculated, leaning back in his seat.   
  
"Maybe if you actually worked every once and awhile....." Cleo chimed in from across the room.   
  
"Hey, I work a lot." Dave defended himself, "I see patients...."   
  
"Yeah - only the blonde ones with long legs and...." Abby interrupted with a smirk.   
  
"That was uncalled for Abby, I'm....." Dave started   
  
A hush fell over the room when Kerry came into the lounge. Everyone saw the look on her face. Everyone knew that something was terribly wrong. And everyone knew to be quiet.   
  
"They're closing County General. For good."   
  
It was all she needed to say. The smiles faded away from each and every person's face.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
"Regretfully they tell us, But firmly they compel us, To say goodbye....To you! So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good night I hate to go, and leave this pretty sight!" A drunken man belted out from the waiting room.   
  
Dave, who had just returned to the front desk looked at the man, commenting "Man, I was hoping that for our last day there wouldn't be any drunks."   
  
"Well I hoped that no one would die today....." Carter chimed in.   
  
"I hope that every day, but right now there's a drunk in curtain area two and out here - Both who are singing." Dave explained   
  
"Well put them both in curtain area two, and let them sing their hearts out until the haldol kicks in."   
  
"Carter?" Mark said, coming in accompanied by paramedics, and a patient lying on a gurney.   
  
"Yeah?" Carter questioned, walking along with them.   
  
"Can you take this? I have to supervise some transfers over to Mercy." Mark asked.   
  
"Sure," He said, taking over the gurney. "What's the bullet? I thought that we were closed to trauma....."   
  
"Amy Mitchell, 24 year old with a sudden onset of labor. 37 weeks along. We didn't think she'd make it over to Mercy - She went into labor just down the street from here." The paramedic explained as they stopped the gurney in trauma one.   
  
"Okay Amy - I'm Dr. Carter. Is their anyone you'd like us to call?" Carter questioned gently   
  
"MmmmmHmmm." She said breathing heavily. "My husband - the number's in my purse."   
  
"Chuny - could you?" Chuny nodded and left, and Carter asked "Are their any other doctors available?"   
  
"They're all helping with transports or occupied with patients." Haleh answered.   
  
"Open a delivery kit, a baby warmer, and let's turn the bed around for privacy." Carter directed   
  
"Don't you want an OB resident down here?" Haleh asked   
  
"OB's all closed up - Besides, they'd never make it in time. I'm going to deliver it myself." Carter gowned up, and spoke to the patient, "Okay Amy, I need you to push....." He directed, taking charge of the delivery. "Crowning....The head's out......"   
  
A minute later, a new life entered the room, as well as the world.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday." the drunken man who Dave had placed in curtain two sang.   
  
"Ain't he the loveliest singer?" The drunken woman asked Dave, slurring her words.   
  
"Yeah, wonderful," Dave said, then called over to Jing Mei, "Um, Jing Mei?"   
  
"Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be. There's a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yesterday came suddenly...." Now both of the drunks were singing along with the song.   
  
"What is it, Dave?" Jing Mei asked, walking over to him.   
  
"Can you help me get this singing duo to fall asleep?" Dave pleaded.   
  
"Sure." She started the IV on the woman, who continued to sing, oblivious to the needle. "They're certainly.....vocal, aren't they?"   
  
"Yeah I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to do this on my last day." Dave admitted, starting the man's IV.   
  
"Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say. I said something wrong, now I'm gone for yesterday......" The drunken woman messed up the words as she continued.   
  
"I thought the words were 'now I long for yesterday'?" Jing Mei surmised.   
  
"They are - Give her a break, she's doing pretty good for someone who's extremely drunk."   
  
* * * * * *   
  
"County General was the hospital of hospitals when it opened. Nothing else like it had been seen before....." Mrs Dian, an elderly patient rambled on.   
  
"Yes Mrs. Dian, you told us that." Luka said, trying to figure out what the medical problem was with this woman.   
  
"Of course, it wasn't too smart with money......."   
  
"Mrs. Dian, do you have a complaint?" Luka interrupted   
  
"I don't complain. But my feet hurt, as well as my legs and my arms......"   
  
"So you don't complain?" Luka retorted with a slight laugh.   
  
"Sonny, you call that complaining?" She said laughing, "I've heard far worse from those other old loonies......"   
  
He laughed then continued, "I can give you some morphine for the pain, if you like."   
  
"That'll be just fine. Thank you sonny."   
  
"Is there anything else?" He asked, taking her chart.   
  
"Yes - where will I go when the hospital closes?" She appeared to be worried.   
  
"We're going to make sure you're stable, and then we'll transfer you to another hospital."   
  
"Oh, well, will you be there?" She asked.   
  
"No, no I will not be there." Luka answered.  
  
* * * * * *   
  
"Making the primary incision.....Mark the time." Elizabeth Corday said.   
  
"I need suction - Peter, here." Romano commanded.   
  
Peter moved over. "Can I ask why there are three of us performing surgery on one patient?"   
  
"Three doctors have done a surgery together many times before, Peter." Romano replied   
  
"Yeah, but not on anything as simple as an appendectomy."   
  
"Peter, be quiet and enjoy your last surgery here at County." Romano instructed, "Besides - when are you going to have the chance to work with such fine surgeons as Lizzie and myself again?"   
  
"Never?" Peter said   
  
"Exactly. Now can I get some more suction?"   
  
* * * * * *   
  
"Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday......" The drunks continued, becoming more and more sleepy.   
  
"Come on haldol, kick in!" Dave said, hoping they'd shut up.   
  
"Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say. I said something wrong, now I long for....." Both of them suddenly fell asleep.   
  
"Thank God." Dave said, hanging the charts over the beds.   
  
"Sweet dreams you two." Jing Mei said, "When you wake up you'll have been transferred to Mercy...."   
  
"And have two very nasty hangovers." Dave finished.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
"How are you holding up?" Carter asked Amy, the woman who had delivered her baby not too long ago.   
  
"I'm just fine. This is my husband, Michael." Amy introduced.   
  
"Nice to meet you." Carter acknowledged. "As soon as transport gets here, we're going to take you and your daughter over to Mercy."  
  
"Okay....Geez, I could have saved everyone a whole load of trouble if I had just gone into labor down the street from Mercy." She joked   
  
Carter smiled, "Can I get you anything?"   
  
"Yeah, a name for this baby - any suggestions?"   
  
He thought for a moment, "Well, this is the last baby born at County General, and the first baby born here was named Ruth...."   
  
"Ruth? I like that." Amy said, and her husband nodded in approval.   
  
"Transport's here." Malik called in, "They'll take it from here."   
  
Carter watched as they wheeled the mother and daughter away. "Goodbye Ruth. Have a good life."   
  
* * * * * *   
  
Mark Greene was sitting in the back of an ambulance, accompanying a patient to Mercy Hospital.   
  
"So what are you going to do now that County's closing?" The paramedic asked from the front seat.   
  
"I took a position down near St. Louis - It's closer to my daughter, plus my wife got a position down there too." Mark answered   
  
"Your wife? When did you and Corday tie the knot?"   
  
"About eight months ago. We're expecting a baby now too." Mark smiled, thinking of it.   
  
"Wow - Congratulations."   
  
"Thanks." Mark started to say, when the whine of the patient's heart monitor interrupted him. "Uh-Oh....He's in V-fib."   
  
"We're almost there - I'll have the doctors meet us at the door."   
  
"Charging paddles to 300.....Clear.......Charging....." Mark repeated the process.   
  
The patient's heart had just resumed sinus rhythm when the ambulance stopped, the doors were open and he started to lift the patient out.   
  
"He went into V-fib, but I shocked his heart back into normal....." Mark started to say, following them into the hospital.   
  
"Thank you - We'll take it from here." One of the doctor's said, leaving Mark to stand there alone.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
"I hate you. You're mean. You smell - I hate you." The five year old girl sitting on the exam room bed said to Cleo Finch.   
  
"That's nice - Take a deep breath, and exhale....." Cleo directed.   
  
"My mom said that I should always tell the truth.......I hate you!"   
  
"I guess that's 'the truth'" Cleo snorted, "What else does your mother say?"   
  
"She said that this hospital is bad......I hate this hospital." The girl declared.   
  
"Well this hospital is going to be closed, so you don't have to worry about it." Cleo said   
  
"Good." The little girl annoyingly announced. "I think it's good that they're closing this hospital, don't you?"   
  
"No. No I don't...." Cleo Finch answered truthfully.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
Elizabeth, Peter, and Robert stood just outside the OR room's doors, watching as their patient was wheeled off to recovery.   
  
"Well, there goes the last surgery patient." Elizabeth said.   
  
"It went well. It's weird to think that he was the last patient." Peter commented.   
  
"Sorry to interrupt this little sentimentality-fest, but I need to leave." Romano interjected.   
  
"Where are you off to?" Elizabeth asked with curiosity.   
  
"I have some business to finish at the administrator's office, and then I have a plan to catch."   
  
"To where?" Peter asked.   
  
"Aren't we the little questioners? I'm going to Boston - I got a position as chief of staff there, and they need me there now." Romano explained.   
  
"Congratulations on the position, Robert." Elizabeth said   
  
"Let's keep this between the three of us, but I must say that I'll never get to work with two finer surgeons," Romano admitted, "It's been a pleasure. Peter - Elizabeth." He shook each of their hands. "Goodbye."   
  
They watched as Robert Romano walked out of the doors, and out of County General.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
So I hear you delivered a baby?" Abby asked Carter as she leaned against the counter in the lounge.   
  
"Yeah - A seven pound girl named Ruth. Both mom and daughter were healthy and transferred." Carter said as he drank some coffee.   
  
"No complications? Good work."   
  
"You know, I hadn't delivered a baby for over two years....Till today that is."   
  
"Well, you did good anyway. Having second thoughts about have not gone into OB?" She joked.   
  
"Definitely not. I think that I was more scared than the mother when I was delivering that baby....I think I'll stick to the ER."   
  
"Me too. It's got a little bit of everything." Abby commented.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
Hours later, Mark Greene rode silently in the ambulance that was giving him a ride back to County. As the ambulance slowly pulled up to the building, Mark felt dread pass all over him. He got out, and walked toward the entrance just as Kerry Weaver walked out.   
  
"Where are you off to, Kerry?" He asked.   
  
"I have to catch a flight - To Denver." She replied.   
  
"You got a position out there?" He asked   
  
"Chief of the ER at Anderson Central - It's a hospital just outside of Denver."   
  
"Wow - well, good luck Kerry." He shook her hand. "Keep in touch."   
  
"I will Mark - It'll be strange waking up and not coming here." She commented   
  
"Tell me about it. Goodbye Kerry."   
  
"Bye Mark."   
  
As Mark entered the ER, he saw something that he had never seen before - A completely empty ER. Looking around, feeling a bit astonished, he realized that all the patients were gone. He must have looked shocked when Carter saw him.   
  
"It's surreal, isn't it?" Carter said, walking down the hall with a box in his hands.   
  
"Where is everybody?" Mark asked, looking around the barren emergency room.   
  
"All the patients have been discharged and transferred. You took the very last patient." Carter explained as he set the box on the front desk.   
  
"What's with the box?" Mark asked.   
  
"It's all my stuff from my locker - I'm the last one here, excepted for you, of course. Everybody else left." Carter said, leaning back.   
  
"Gone for good, you mean?" Mark asked and Carter nodded. "I didn't even get a chance to ask where they were going."   
  
"Well, Cleo is moving back to Indiana - She got a job at a pediatric center there. Peter's going to Northwestern to work as an attending. Abby, Deb, Luka, Dave and I are all going to Mercy. We don't even get rid of Dave after this move...." Carter laughed.   
  
"I already heard about Romano and Kerry - They both sure got great positions." Mark commented.   
  
"Doesn't that figure?" Carter remarked.   
  
"You really grew up in this place Carter." Mark said as he looked around. "I remember when you first came here as a med student....I can't believe how much you've changed."   
  
"Do you mean that in a good way, or a bad way?" Carter said as he stood in front of him.   
  
"A good way. Sure, you had some bad times, some bad changes, but in the end you turned out pretty well."   
  
"I could say the same for you." Carter smiled. "Thank you. Thank you for everything....Well, I should probably get going." Carter said as he picked up his box with one arm. "I'm afraid that if I stay here any longer I won't be able to leave. You can stay here as long as you like. Just be sure you turn off the lights of the ER before you go."   
  
"All my stuff is already packed up. I'll walk out with you."   
  
"Remember my first day, when I got sick in the trauma room and you came out to talk to me?" Carter asked as they walked through the ER.   
  
"Yeah, I'll told you 'you're going to be fine'," Mark recalled. "And you will be."   
  
"Will be what?" Carter asked confused.   
  
"You'll be fine without this hospital. It'll be strange, but we'll both be fine." Mark said as they came to the door. "You do the honors." Mark said, indicating the light switch.   
  
"Goodbye," Carter whispered to the empty hospital as he hit the light switch, leaving the hospital completely dark.   
  
The two men walked out of County General and moved on to different lives.   
  
THE END   



End file.
